Voting in primary election takes place Tuesday

Voters in Curry and Roosevelt counties on Tuesday will determine local contested races, and help make decisions on who will run for Congress in the general election.

Voting will take place 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at various polling locations. Polling sites in both counties are all voter convenience centers, meaning a registered voter can cast a ballot at any location in the county where they are registered.

Due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, and a push from the state’s county clerks, much of the early in-person voting and an untold amount of Election Day voting was replaced with absentee ballots.

At the close of Friday, Curry County had received 2,334 ballots — 2,267 returned absentee ballots, 724 early voters at the clerk’s office and 343 at the alternate polling location at the Youth Recreation Building. A total of 3,708 absentee ballots were issued, and 1,441 of those had not yet come back to the clerk’s office.

At the close of Friday, Roosevelt County had received 1,688 ballots — 1,052 absentee, 539 at the county courthouse and 97 at the alternate site at the Jake Lopez Community Center.

Clerk’s offices remained open for Saturday, the final day of early voting. Absentee ballots will be accepted until 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Curry County has two contested races in the Republican primary, with the clerk’s race between incumbent Annie Hogland and Sarah Ranae Smith and the District 2 county commission race between James Ridling and J. Albin Smith. The commission seat is currently held by Ben McDaniel, who is term-limited.

Roosevelt County has two contested races in the Republican primary, with the District 2 county commission seat between incumbent Matthew Hunton and challenger Rodney Savage and the probate judge race between incumbent Michelle Bargas and challengers Kendall Terry and Gracy Stone.

In all three contested primary races, there are no candidates in either the Democratic or Libertarian primaries.

In federal races, there are three Republican candidates for Senate in Elisa Martinez, Mark Ronchetti and Gavin Clarkson. The winner will run against Democrat Ben Ray Lujan and Libertarian Bob Walsh.

There are two House of Representatives races including Curry and Roosevelt.

In District 2, incumbent Xochitl Torres Small is unchallenged in the Democratic primary. Running to challenge her in the Republican primary are Claire Chase, Yvette Herrell and Chris Mathys.

District 3, left open with Lujan’s Senate run, has 10 total candidates. Republican candidates include Harry B. Montoya, Karen Evette Bedonie and Alexis M. Johnson. Democratic candidates are Teresa Leger Fernandez, Laura M. Montoya, Marco Peter Serna, Joseph L. Sanchez, Valerie E. Plame, John Blair and Kyle J. Tisdel.

A state public health order will limit voters in a building to the greater of four or 20% of the building’s maximum occupancy. Voters are asked to maintain 6 feet of space and wear face coverings,

The Election Protection Coalition has established a hotline for New Mexicans at 866-687-8683 (English) or 888-839-8682 (Spanish). The hotline is for voters who want to confirm their voter registration status, find their polling location or report any complaints regarding the voting process.